Misc. Fun in July

My sister Kim had called and wanted to go to dinner so we met her and her girls and Aunt Kelly at California Pizza Kitchen at Fashion Place Mall.  It was so fun to go out and it worked out perfect because CJ was out of town. These three are so cute together and don't see each other nearly enough. 

We went to Children's Place and these glasses were only a dollar and Kim thought that Jackson for sure needed some. So he picked out what ones he wanted and I must say, he is very stylish in them. He was so excited to wear them and then as soon as we got out of the store, he didn't want anything to do with them.  He has worn them in car rides since then and I laugh every time he wears them.

Below was a stop we made at the mall with Aunt Kelly. We had to take her to the airport and we had a little time to burn before we had to leave so we went to lunch and then shopped for a little bit. Jackson was so excited to get on the carousal. He picked out his seat he wanted and smiled the whole time he was on it. Aunt Kelly sure does spoil him!

We stopped at Grandma and Grandpa Vincent's house for a visit and the kids wanted to comb Grandpa's hair. Grandpa was such a good sport to do this because sometimes they weren't very soft. Jackson thought this was great fun! He kept switching between three combs. He would step off the stool to get a different comb and then get back up and brush for a minute and then do the same thing again. It made me smile that he was able to "help" take care of Papa Lee.

A visit to the Temple

I love having so many Temples so close that we can go visit and walk around. We usually end up at the Salt Lake Temple because we will go walk around City Creek for a while and then just cross the street to see the Temple. Jackson loves when we visit the Temple. He gets so excited to see it and I love that he recognizes it when we drive by.  This trip we stopped at Farr's ice cream and then walked over and sat down by the fountains to eat it. Jackson loves to run around the fountains so after we finished our ice cream, he went running. It was so relaxing and peaceful. I could have sat there all day. 

And of course when we had to leave, Jackson was more then just upset. He was angry! Total tantrum, but it was a nice day out and with it being so close, we visit it often and that makes him happy again.

Vincent Summer Party!

CJ's extended family gets together every year on December 23 for a Christmas party, but with how big the family is growing and all the kids, it is hard to find a place that can accommodate all of us. Grandma decided that we would stop the Christmas Party and do a Summer Party where we could go to a park or somewhere that would allow the kids to play. This was the first year we have done this and it was a lot of fun. We did it at the splash pad park by our house and had a great turn out. We had a BBQ and hung out and talked while all the kids played in the water. We also had a few games that people could play as well. I think it turned out to be a great get together and it will be fun to do this every year. 

Here is our cute Grandpa Lee. We just love him so much. We were grateful he was able to come and see everyone. He has poor health and was such a trooper sitting outside in the heat. We love you Papa Lee!
We only see CJ's extended family once a year so it was nice to see everyone and catch up on what everyone is doing.

Cute Cousins!

Jackson just loves his cousin Jacob. Whenever he is with him, he just smothers him. He will lay all over him and tackle him. On this day when Jacob and Holly came over, Jackson wrapped his blankie around  Jacob's head and just cuddled him. It was so funny and Jacob was so nice to let Jackson just maul him. 

Jacob is always such a good sport. Usually when Jacob is around, Jackson will want to dance. He always asks Jacob to dance with him. This day, I had to replay the very end of Thomas the Train over and over so they could dance. It was so cute to watch. I am glad that Jackson has cousins that just love to play with him.

Star Valley Reunion

The next day after my immediate family reunion ended, we headed up to Star Valley, Wyoming for our annual Johnson Reunion that includes my Dad's brothers and sisters and their kids. 

When we first got there, My Mom, brothers Scott and Dustin and CJ and I went to the Mortuary and ordered my Dad's tombstone. It was nice to finally get that done. It should be done by the end of September. We stopped at the store to get some flowers and then went to the cemetery to see my Dad. We gave everyone a flower that they would lay on the grave. My cute nephews, Wyatt and Beckett, wanted to plant the flowers. So when Jackson saw them do that, then he wanted to do that also. They were so cute to watch dig the holes and stick the flower stem in and then try to get it to stay standing up. Jackson's was a big sunflower so it was a little more difficult to do. We actually had to use a shovel to get a hole deep enough for it to stand up. 

My sweet little Angel looking at Papa's grave. My niece, Madison took this picture and it is perfect. She took it at the right moment because Jackson does not stand still for very long. It is so beautiful up there. I love visiting Star Valley and now look forward to it even more.

I didn't get any pictures of the reunion except the last day when we did the pinata. Jackson hit it once and then didn't want to do it again.

He sure enjoyed his treat though!!

Johnson Reunion: Day 2

Day 2 of our Reunion was the 4th of July. We were all so exhausted still from the lake that we didn't even have breakfast until ten that morning. We all slept in and it felt great! Timmy and Ashli made dutch oven eggs, sausage and biscuits, with parfaits and muffins. Sooo good! 

After breakfast we had a flag ceremony. Two of my nephews read information about the flag and then we took a family picture. We were missing our two missionaries at that moment, but we all wrote them little notes to mail to them.

There is a family in my Mom's ward who invited us to go play hockey and human foosball with them. The kids had a blast. There was a fog machine and everyone had glow in the dark necklaces and bracelets. After games we went to my Mom's for homemade ice cream and cookies.

We hung out and played the rest of the day. That evening we had a discussion by the fire pit about my Dad. We talked about the great man he was and shared fun memories about him. It was nice to talk about him and see what some of the grandkids remembered about him.
We then roasted marshmallows and did fireworks. It was a great end to our reunion. We all had so much fun together.  It is the only time we get everyone together and it always goes by way too fast. I love my family and am grateful that we love to be together.